1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improved car cover deployment and storage system mounted in the trunk of an automobile. As the automobile cover, constructed of a flexible material, is drawn with tension from a spring-tensioned roller assembly, the rotation of a roller member relative to a fixed axle winds a spring means and creates a restoring torsional force that urges the roller to counter-rotate. The deployed cover can be wound back onto the roller member using the stored torsional force, and stored in the trunk of the automobile. The system makes use of the automobile trunk lid to guide the cover during deployment and retraction, and thus obviates the need for any guide rollers or separate housing or containment means. The trunk lid also closes over the cover, which renders the cover theft proof and eliminates the need for separate conventional means to secure the cover to the rear bumper. The system is thus lightweight, compact, economical to manufacture, and easy to install and operate.
The invention further concerns a system for mounting the deployment and storage system in the trunk of an automobile.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is not always possible to park an automobile in a garage or shaded parking area. Flexible car covers have become very popular automotive accessories and are used as temporary protection to preserve the paint and interior of an ungaraged parked car from the effects of harsh sunlight, dust, snow, rain, tree sap, bird droppings and the like. Further, car covers may also discourage theft and vandalism of the cars.
Car covers of this type are typically available in a wide variety of shapes and configurations ranging from, on the one hand, covers which are shaped to fit about a generic car configuration and drape the entire car, to, on the other hand, partial covers which extend only over the top section of the car (i.e., the hood, roof, windshields and trunk deck). Perhaps the most common variety of car covers are those which may be folded and carried in the trunk and then removed from the trunk, appropriately draped over the car and secured thereto by hooks, elastic, VELCRO hook-and-pile fastener tie-down means, or the like. While effective and conceptually simple, conventional car covers of this type have several well-known limitations and disadvantages.
For example, installation-is awkward and time-consuming, and it can be fairly difficult for a single person to install and remove such a cover. Additionally, unless the cover is custom designed to precisely fit the contour of the particular car, the cover is often considerably oversized and tends to billow and flap in a stiff breeze despite the use of tie-down straps or the like. Moreover, car covers of this type, when in place over the car exterior, may be easily stolen.
Generally available covers which cover the entire body of the car are stored in a bag which is, in turn, stored within the trunk of the vehicle. To use, the cover must be removed from the bag, unfolded, oriented correctly, thrown or "floated" over the automobile, and stretched over anchoring points. Removal can be just as awkward, and requires bunching and stuffing of the car cover into the storage bag. Because this procedure involves significant time and effort on the part of the car owner, the car owner will often leave the car exposed, rather than struggling with the cover.
One approach to overcoming the inconvenience of the typical cover has been to store the flexible cover on a wind-up roll, of one sort or another, which is externally secured to the front or rear end of the car. From its rolled-up, stored position the flexible car cover can simply be unrolled toward the opposite end of the car and operatively secured over the car. Representative examples of this "roll-up" external over scheme may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 1,918,423 to Persinger; U.S. Pat. No. 3,222,102 to Lucas; U.S. Pat. No. 3,992,053 to Hrytzak et al; U.S. Pat. No. 4,432,581 to Guma; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,519,644 to Song, which disclose a framed, fold-out car cover housed in an external storage container secured to the rear bumper. Further variations on this theme have been proposed. U.S. Pat. No. 5,176,421 (Fasiska) teaches a flexible car cover having one end attached to a rotatable spool housed in a containment tube. The spool may be rotated by means of a pre-loaded spring, electric motor or manual crank. The tube is located in the trunk for storage, and is pivoted out of the trunk and towards the back bumper prior to applying the cover to the automobile. Such an arrangement has a number of deficiencies. First, since the spool and containment tube must be pivoted out of the trunk, there exists the danger of the tube impacting and damaging the finish or bodywork of the automobile. Further, as the cover is deployed from the containment tube, the tube will rub against the automobile, increasing the likelihood of damage. Finally, since the entire device must be pivoted out of the trunk, and thus left exposed during use, it degrades the appearance of the automobile and presents an easy target for thieves.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,925,234 (Park et al) discussed known "roll up" car covers, and their disadvantages. The disadvantages stated were large size, possibility of theft, need for mounting hardware, and cost. Park et al avoid these problems by completely omitting the roller used in rolling the cover on a roller. Instead, the cover is simply folded, accordion style, into the trunk. More specifically, Park et al teach a car cover having one end of the fabric of the car cover anchored in the trunk. To use, the trunk is opened, and the cover is unfolded and applied to the automobile. To store, the cover is folded longitudinally and stored in the trunk. By avoiding the use of rollers, Park et al illustrate the deficiencies in the state of the art roller type car covers.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,078,330 (Hall) teaches a battery powered electric motor driven rewinding and storing apparatus for flexible protective covers for vehicles. The device is stored in the trunk, and is pivoted out of the trunk and held in place on the bumper when in use.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,056,839 (Yooh) teaches a cover assembly comprising a case (which may be integral with the automobile bumper) having a rotary shaft in the case. The assembly appears to be complex, expensive, and incapable of after-market installation.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,086,988 (LaPointe et al) teaches a free-standing canister having a central axis about which a car cover can be wound, and an opening through which the cover can be deployed. The axle is rotated by applying pressure on a handle connected to the axle. To store the car cover, as the axle is rotated, the car cover is taken up about the axle. The canister is not permanently mounted inside the trunk of the automobile.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,029,933 (Gillem) teaches a cover which can be rolled up about itself (like a sleeping bag or bed-roll) for storage inside the trunk of an automobile. For deployment, the trunk is opened, and the cover is pulled out from the space between the front of the trunk lid and the automobile body, i.e., between the hinges. No roller is used.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,720,135 teaches the use of a protective device including a protective sheet for covering the upper surface of the body of a motor vehicle. The sheet is anchored at one end to a winding roller which is fixed permanently to the vehicle in the region of one of its bumpers and is provided at its other end with means for attachment to the region of the other bumper. This protective device has many disadvantages. The protective device only covers the top of the car, leaving the sides exposed to dust and the elements. Likewise, since the doors and side windows of the vehicle are exposed, the protective device does little to discourage theft or vandalism. In fact, the system itself is exposed and in need of protection from theft. Finally, since the device is permanently mounted near the vehicle's bumper, it is apt to be damaged in a collision.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,732,421 (Ross et al) teach a self-storing, retractable automobile cover apparatus employing a constant force spiral spring. The apparatus includes a housing and rigid tubes acting as fixed roller guides for controlling the takeup of the cover onto the tubular reel. The apparatus is bulky, complex, and must be deployed on the rear bumper of an automobile for use.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,657,298 discloses another protective device for a car which includes a sheet of material wound around a roller and a surrounding container which is permanently mounted within the trunk of the vehicle. The sheet member is extended from the roller, passing upwardly through the gap between the front edge of the trunk lid and the body of the car, to cover the roof and hood of the vehicle. A motor is used to retract the sheet into the container for storage. This design is impractical in that the device is relatively large, heavy and expensive, and the cover leaves the sides and entire rear end of the car exposed to intruders and the elements. Further, the electric motor adds to the cost, weight, complexity and size of the device.
Another "roll-up" device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,718,711 (Rabbit) in which the flexible car cover is stored on a double roller structure secured to the interior trunk hinges by elastic shock cords. When the cover is rolled onto the front storage roller both rollers may be stored in the trunk. This cover device necessitates providing complex roller structures and special mounting hardware.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,216,989 discloses a pop-up cover mechanism for covering the full body of the vehicle. The full cover is stored within a protective storage compartment which is mounted on the roof of a car. The storage compartment can be opened to release the protective sheet when it is desired to cover the car. An end of the protective sheet remains attached to the storage compartment, allowing the storage compartment to hold the protective sheet in place. While the device provides for a somewhat elaborate deployment mechanism, the device is permanently attached to the center of the roof of the car, forming a large raised block portion, which is aesthetically undesirable. Further, the device requires that the design of the vehicle itself be altered or, in one embodiment, that holes be drilled into the roof of the car in order to mount the storage compartment on the car. This device is relatively expensive and has not proved popular among car owners.
While the above mentioned patents are representative of the designs which have been developed to facilitate the more rapid and easier covering and uncovering of the parked car, they each clearly build in other problems, limitations and disadvantages. For example, the external mounting of a relatively bulky cover storage container on the front bumper, the rear bumper, or the trunk lid does little to enhance the overall appearance of the car. Such an apparatus is heavy, complex, expensive, and constantly exposed to the effects of the environment. Further, in an externally mounted system, the cover may accidentally deploy while the automobile is in motion, which can result in serious damage to the cover and/or automobile.
A system which is stored in the trunk but must be pivoted externally to the automobile in order for the cover to be deployed, requires special mounting hardware. Further, when the cover system hardware is positioned on the exterior of the car when in use, the possibility of theft is increased.
Moreover, most of the conventional cover structures discussed herein are comprised of a flexible sheet which, when in its operative position, covers the external trunk lock typically positioned in the center of the rear panel of the closed trunk lid. It is thus difficult to externally unlock the trunk without at least partially loosening the operatively positioned flexible cover.
In view of the foregoing, it is an object of the present invention to provide a flexible full-body protective automobile cover system which eliminates or minimizes the above-mentioned and other problems, limitations and disadvantages typically associated with conventional flexible automobile cover systems, and to provide an automobile cover deployment and storage system which is light, simple to manufacture, easy to install and use, inexpensive, reliable, compact and which does not detract from the aesthetic appearance of the vehicle.